Why Djokovic-Murray Is Worth Rooting For

Djokovic and Murray met earlier this month — at an exhibition event to raise money for relief of Australian flood damage.

Novak Djokovic’s mild upset of Roger Federer in the Australian Open semifinals guarantees men’s tennis something it hasn’t seen since Djokovic beat Federer at the same stage three years ago and went on to win his lone Grand Slam title: A major final that features neither Federer nor Rafael Nadal. And if sports books are correct in their prediction that Andy Murray will win the second men’s semifinal, against David Ferrer on Friday, this surprising tournament will feature something that, amazingly, has never been seen at a major: a Murray-Djokovic match.

Murray and Djokovic consistently have been the next two best players in tennis after Federer and Nadal (in one order or the other) for the last two and a half years, with only minor interruptions. In 71% of the weekly rankings since the 2008 U.S. Open, either Djokovic or Murray — usually Djokovic — has been ranked third, and the other fourth. This is a testament to their great play among two of the greatest of all time. During that span, Murray has split his 18 meetings with Federer and Nadal away from majors, while Djokovic has gone a respectable 8-11 against the twogreats on tour during that span. Against the rest of tennis, the two have dominated. Already, despite having just one major between them, they both are in the Top 20 in career winning percentage in the Open era, ahead of such multiple-major winners as Lleyton Hewitt, Jim Courier and Mats Wilander.